Altogether Just Taken Apart
by charleswallace
Summary: Highschool/College AU, The Summers sisters are best friends with the Winchesters, as well as mishmash of characters from the Whedonverse and Kripkeverse. When Buffy goes to college without Dean, his feelings for her are as unrequited as ever.
1. Part I

**Title**: Altogether Just Taken Apart

**Fandom**: SPN/BtVS crossover

**Pairings**: Buffy/Dean, Sam/Dawn, more to be added

**Word Coun**t: 2400ish

**Disclaimer**: I cannot take the credit for the wonderful characters of the Buffyverse and Supernatural. That honour goes to my lord and savior, Joss Whedon and my new hero, Eric Kripke, respectively.

**Summary**: Highschool/College AU, The Summers sisters are best friends with the Winchesters, as well as mishmash of characters from the Whedonverse and Kripkeverse. When Buffy goes to college without Dean, his feelings for her are as unrequited as ever. Not canon obviously, took liberties with age and relations.

**A/N**: Oh boy, I can't wait to write more for this.

_~Buffy and Dean_

A long, drawn out sigh came from somewhere over on her bed, and Buffy turned to see Dean, face down into her frilly pink pillow, sprawled across her bedspread. She rolled her eyes and went back to packing books and trinkets into a cardboard box. Another over exaggerated sigh, and Buffy finally turned to lob her stuffed pig at Dean's head.

"Whu-whu-aah?" a muffled exclamation came from her pillow, and he raised his head finally to look at her.

"Sorry, Mr. Gordo has had enough of your melodramatic sounds of frustration." She tilted her head slightly and frowned. Taking a good look at her best friend, Buffy noticed a small hint of sadness in the normally happy and carefree face she had seen every day since they were 15. Both of them 19 now, and with Buffy moving out to go to college, she had been so busy preparing and packing and stressing over it all that she, now slightly angry with herself for doing so, had been neglecting the one person who had always had her back, no matter what.

She crossed her room and sat on the bed next to him, softly placing a hand on his back. He replaced his head into the crook of his elbow and didn't speak. Buffy tapped him lightly and sighed herself.

"Hey, no talky guy. What is up with you?" she leaned forward and stuck her nose into the space between his arm and his cheek. "Something you want to talk about?"

"No thanks, Freud. I'm all good." He said, his halfhearted attempt at sounding cheerful sent a pang of guilt to Buffy's heart. She sat up and crossed her legs, turning to stare at him intently. Seconds passed and they sat in silence, something they had done comfortably many times before, but now Dean felt the hot stare on the back of his neck. He rolled onto his back and propped himself up on his elbows. Begrudgingly, he put on a hard face and stared at her shoulder as he spoke. "Okay, fine. I'm bummed out, man." He wiggled his foot absentmindedly and wished hard that she would stop staring at him.

He had seen that look before; knowing someone for as long as they knew one another and you became privy to their tricks and certain looks to watch out for. Like when Buffy is eyeing the last slice of pizza, she gets this look that makes Dean feel as if he even thought of reaching in for it, she'd take his hand clean off. Or when someone is saying something that she doesn't want to hear, but she's too polite to tell them to go away, a small tick under her eye starts beating that reminds Dean of a cartoon character. He also knew the look she was giving him right now; the relentless stare of a girl who usually gets what she wants, and what she wants is for him to spill whatever he was keeping for her, lest she bore a hole in his skull with her eyes. Sure that she knew his looks as well as he knew hers, he had no chance of hiding his poorly hid anxiety from her.

"We've been living across the street from one another for what, four years now, almost five?" he began slowly, and she nodded in agreement. "I've seen you every day, willing to bet that I've spent more time over here than at my own house." He dropped his eyes as he felt her intense stare soften, and couldn't stand the look of pity and sadness she was now giving him. "And now all that's going to change. You're leaving-"

"For a college in the same state." She interjected.

"Still! You won't be HERE." he said defensively, sitting up on the bed and staring out her window. Memories flooded back to him of sitting on her roof at 2 AM on a warm summer night, and watching as she slid the window open and hopped out to meet him for a night of cruising around town in his Impala. They'd park at the edge of town away from the light pollution and sit atop the roof of his car to smoke cigarettes and watch the stars, often until the sun rose again. That, and all the times he and his younger brother Sam had split paths on the same roof, Dean quietly shimmying the window open and climbing into Buffy's room while Sam made his way to the other side of the house to her younger sister's Dawn's window. Where, Dean was all too sure, that Sam was doing the same thing; crawling into bed next to their best friend, and feeling the calm and peace that only a Summers girl could bring a troubled boy.

"Dean, listen, I am only moving 15 minutes away. You have a car, you can come see me whenever you want!" she smiled, hoping he would return it. "Plus I'll be living with Willow and Gabriel. It's basically like I'm taking my life here and just moving it to a drunker place. I mean, studious. Yeah. Studious." This made the corner of Dean's mouth twitch upward and his heart expanded as a huge, true grin spread across her face. "See, I knew I could get a bit of a smile." She leaned forward and gentled knocked her forehead against his, each pressing their weight into one another in support. "Dean, you're my best friend. You really think I'd forget about you or something?"

"No." he sighed and his dark green eyes met her stormy grey, and they sat like this for a while in silence. Finally, he grabbed Mr. Gordo from beside him and held him up to her face, "But as your best friend I have to insist you do not take a stuffed pig to college with you. That's just really lame."

She grabbed the pig from him and pushed him off her bed, smiling with satisfaction at the loud thump and the cry of surprise he made when he hit the floor.

_~Sam and Dawn_

_**THUD**_.

"What was that?"

"Probably your sister finally jumping my brother's bones." Sam did not look up from the paper he was reading from, though he could tell Dawn was giving him a horrified look. "What? Come on, it's bound to happen sometime, have you see the way he looked at her? They want it."

"You're crazy. They're just friends." Dawn sat, cross legged on her bed, braiding a bracelet out of hemp and colourful beads and every once and a while looked up to Sam, who sat on the bench in her windowsill.

"Guys and girls can't be friends without sex. It's impossible." Sam said, as if reading from a textbook on the subject. Dawn's eyes widened slightly, and she glanced down to her bracelet, avoiding looking at her best friend.

"O-okay Harry. That's silly, of course they can." She said, trying to hide the slight shake in her voice the stemmed from years of concealing an incredible crush for the boy who sat across the room from her. Though she knew nothing could ever happen, Dawn comforted herself with the theory that absolutely no one who met one of the Winchesters ever walked away without a broken heart. Girls practically fell to Sam's feet at their high school, but he paid no attention to any girl except Dawn. She was grateful for their friendship; the Winchesters had moved to California the same time the Summers had, and it was a stroke of luck that their houses basically faced each other on the same street. What was originally John Winchester forcing his boys out the front door to be polite and greet the ladies across the street, turned into a near instant connection between the two sets of siblings. Dean and Buffy being the oldest obviously hit it off right away, though Dawn noticed that Dean looked at Buffy in an almost puppy-dog fashion, while he sister (ever the observant one) seemed to be oblivious to his swooning. Sam was a year older than Dawn, 18 and graduating at the end of the year and headed off to college the same way her sister was. This suddenly made her very sad, and the idea of her sister moving out and the inevitability of Sam moving even farther away (he was very smart, something she admired about him greatly. But it also meant he would most likely be going to a more prestigious school than UC Sunnydale) made her throat feel tight and her heart ache.

"Face it, Sally. It's the God's honest truth." Sam shut his book and sat up from his lounging position. He smiled at her and brushed his long hair from his forehead before stretching his long arms out and above his head, groaning then sighing contentedly. He waked over to the bed and looked down. "Whatcha makin'?"

She held a bracelet in her hands, the brown twine wrapped in an intricate and beautiful spiral, curving around four coloured glass beads in the centre. It was beautiful, and Sam admired her creativity in things like this. Dawn had always been good with artsy stuff, and usually gave homemade gifts for Christmas and birthdays. Sam thought of the navy blanket she had knitted to keep in the back seat of Dean's Impala, and the sparkly silver thread she had used to carefully sew delicate little stars all over it. He thought for sure Dean would turn his nose to such a beautiful thing, but he accepted it with wide eyes and, from what Sam could tell, used it often when he went stargazing with Buffy. She had also decorated a picture frame for Sam with seashells and bits of coloured glass they had picked up at the beach. It sat on his desk at home, a photo of the four of them smiling up at him as he worked on his homework every night. The heart she put into everything she created made each present more special, and Sam both envied and greatly appreciated her talent.

"It's for Buffy. So she won't forget us when she goes to school." Dawn smiled a little sadly, holding the bracelet up, the glass beads glinting in the sunlight. "See, there are four colours. Purple for me, _red_ for Buffy," Sam smiled and nodded at the colour choice for her sister, "green for Dean, cause it matches his eyes," Dawn smiled slightly, "and blue for you." Sam studied the blue bead she pointed to, and saw it was a beautiful mix of light and dark, swirled in the centre almost like a marble.

"What about everyone else, huh? Just the four of us get pretty beads?" he sat on the bed next to her, and she laughed, throwing herself across the bed and reaching under it to pull out a picture frame. It was a beautiful stained glass frame that Sam had no doubt she made herself, and the photo inside made him smile instantly.

It was taken on the front lawn of the Summers house, and the number of faces in the photo would have been overwhelming for most, but to Sam it was almost a collage of his life staring back at him. There was Dean and Buffy in the centre, of course. Buffy pulling Dean into a headlock of sorts and laughing, Dean falling to the side with a look of utter joy on his face. Dawn sat beside her sister, her smile wide and cheesy, and he spotted himself sitting next to her, his hand running through his hair and a laugh on his face. Behind them were two groups of people who, through the Winchester and Summers friendships, had melded into one over the years. Willow, the fiery redhead who was to be living with Buffy at college this year was popping her head from behind Buffy and Dean, her arm around each of their shoulders. Beside her stood Xander, Willow's oldest friend and also one of Buffy's closest, his goofy grin only matched by the one beside him. His arm hung loosely around the shoulders of Gabriel; a member of a family that had been friends with the Winchesters since their mother died when Dean was young and Sam was just a baby. They were also one of the main reasons John Winchester moved his family from Kansas to California. They were basically the only family the Winchester's had, and it was a strange family at that.

The Singer family was a motley crew at best; John's best friend Bobby Singer had gotten custody of three children when Dean and Sam were young. Gabriel was a year older than Dean, and already enrolled in UC Sunnydale. Sam grinned to himself as he noticed Gabe's eyes were closed in the photo (a trademark of sorts, there's always that one guy who blinks every time) though it didn't stop him from placing bunny ears behind Buffy's head. He and Xander, introduced through Buffy and Dean, hit it off right away. They both had ridiculous senses of humour, Xander often sarcastic and silly, while Gabe had a tendency to pull elaborate pranks. The two of them were nearly inseparable, and Sam often thought of them as two pieces to a whole that had finally found each other and could help but always need to be fit together. Gabe was also to be living with Buffy and Willow this year, something he knew both Dean and Xander (who were working at an auto shop and a pizza place, respectively, instead of attending school) were incredibly jealous and sad about.

Beside Gabe in the photo stood two people who, Sam swore if they switched hairstyles he would not be able to distinguish from one another. Castiel and Jo, fraternal twins and the youngest of the Singer clan, stood with arms wrapped around one another, Cas planting a kiss on his sister's smiling face. They only looked alike in facial expression, Sam realized, as Cas had giant blue eyes that were almost unnerving to look at, while Jo had soft, brown doe eyes that would leave anyone in a puddle on the floor. They were his age, and were graduating high school with him this year. He suddenly felt very sad for Dawn, and put the picture down before placing both hands on her shoulders and looking her in the eye.

"Are you okay?" he asked sternly, and he saw her bottom lip quiver slightly and her enormous eyes grow misty.

"I'm going to miss her. I'm going to miss all of you. When you leave…"

"Hey we've got a whole year to think of that. And Buffy's not going far. Jeez, you and Dean are acting like she's moving to Istanbul." She smiled slightly and he ran his thumb across her cheek to catch a tear that had escaped. "He's feeling pretty awful about this all too. Working in a shop isn't exactly what our Dad had planned for him, but Dean isn't exactly the collegiate type now is he?" He sighed and stood up straight cracking his knuckles. "I say we have a farewell party. Or at least get a ton of pizza and invite everyone over. The whole gang, what do you say?"

Dawn smiled up at him and nodded vigorously. She then let out a squeal and her best friend swooped down and grabbed her around the waist, hoisting her onto his shoulder and marching out of the room, all the while yelling at the top of his lungs, "DEAAAAAAN, I'M ORDERING PIZZA. CALL GABE AND ASK HIM IF HE WANTS CRAZY BREAAAAAAD."


	2. Part II

**Title**: Altogether Just Taken Apart

**Fandom**: SPN/BtVS crossover

**Pairings**: Buffy/Dean, Sam/Dawn, more to be added

**Word Count**: 2200ish

**Disclaimer**: I cannot take the credit for the wonderful characters of the Buffyverse and Supernatural. That honour goes to my lord and savior, Joss Whedon and my new hero, Eric Kripke, respectively.

**Summary**: Highschool/College AU, The Summers sisters are best friends with the Winchesters, as well as mishmash of characters from the Whedonverse and Kripkeverse. When Buffy goes to college without Dean, his feelings for her are as unrequited as ever. Not canon obviously, took liberties with age and relations.

**A/N**: introductory posts are slow, but I love these three as siblings.

_~Gabe, Cas, and Jo_

Gabriel placed the last of his boxes into the back of his VW bus and gave the door an almighty tug. The normally temperamental door shot closed with a loud slam, flinging him backwards into a heap on the ground, looking up to the sky. It was a clear day, the clouds drifting by on a canvas of clear aquamarine, and he stopped to admire its beauty and feel the warmth of the California sun on his face until a shadow was cast over him. He looked up just above his head to find Castiel, his little brother standing over him, watching him curiously.

"You are on the ground, Gabriel." He said blankly, cocking his head so that he reminded Gabe of a curious parrot finding a shiny mirror. Gabe smiled slightly, finding no difference in the beauty of the sky and the wonderful blue eyes of his baby brother. But that didn't stop him from grabbing a hold of Castiel's legs and pulling him onto the front lawn beside the driveway. Cas landed with as little grace as Bambi on ice, and flailed about for a while, as Gabe erupted into fits of laughter. He sat up and swept a piece of blonde hair that had fallen in his eyes, looking to his brother and sighing.

"I'm gonna miss you, kiddo." He ruffled Castiel's hair, then grabbed his head and pushed him sideways, rendering him helpless on the grass once again.

"And what, may I ask are you doing to my brother?" a voice came from the front door of the house, and Gabe turned just in time to see a skinny, pale, blonde figure rush at his head, toppling all three of them into a heap on the front lawn. Jo's finger was dangerously close to being fully up his nose, and he's pretty sure Castiel's head was somewhere beneath them and slowly running out of air, but Gabe couldn't help himself and laughed a deep, appreciative laugh and was pleased when the tinkling of his little sister's high giggle and the muffled sounds of Castiel's nervous chuckle sounded beneath them. He rolled off of his sibling and grabbed each of them around the necks, pulling them into a sandwich hug as they all stared up to the clouds together.

"What a strange family we are." Castiel observed, and Gabriel felt Jo nestle her head into his shoulder. "Twin?" he asked suddenly, and Gabe glanced at Jo wondering why Castiel's voice sounded urgent.

"Yes, Twin?" Jo responded dozily.

"Are you alright?" Cas asked, his voice serious. Gabe studied Jo for a moment and realized the dark circles under her eyes were more pronounced, her skin looking a little more pale than usual. He marveled again at his siblings' abilities to read each other's moods and feelings. They were so right on sometimes it was scary. Like when they were 9, the first time Cas had a sleepover at someone else's house, and he was so excited the entire day before. Around midnight though, Jo crept into Gabe's room and sat on the end of his bed, prodding his leg with her little finger. Gabe woke to see her eyes filled with tears, as she told him "Cassy is sad. He wants to come home." Slightly baffled, Gabe took it as the adorable habit the two had of referring to themselves as the other. He thought Jo was projecting her feelings onto Cas, when suddenly the phone rang. He picked up and could only stare in disbelief at the little blond girl in front of him, as his baby brother cried on the other end and asked to come home.

As scary as their connection was, it was nothing compared to the reason why Cas was now asking his twin if she was all right. Since he could remember, Jo had always been a sickly child. She caught colds like it was going out of style, and missed so much school that Bobby had to hire a tutor to basically home-school her while she was sick, which was more often than not. When she was 12 she was diagnosed with a primary invasive brain tumor, one in which the doctors said she would have little to no chance of recovering from. Like the miracles his family always seemed to pull out of their asses, Jo was now 18 and up until a little while ago was doing rather well. She was still pale, still rather weak, and didn't get out of the house much. Under the constant, worried care of their adoptive father Bobby and the watchful eyes of both her brothers, Jo was often the most positive of the bunch. Cracking jokes about being sick and seeing the bright side of things was her specialty, though Gabe knew it wasn't always time for jokes.

He remembered having to explain to 12-year-old Cas that his sister was very, very sick. Of course, he knew Cas was well aware of this, and often times Gabe wondered if Cas felt every bit of pain and sickness Jo did. They nearly lost her one year, around Christmas time when she had seized up in her room and the boys were out shopping for her Christmas gift. Since then, Cas never left the house unless Gabe or Bobby was home; out of fear and guilt, he became his sisters' keeper.

Gabe lay quite still between his siblings and felt Cas lift his head slightly, and knew he was listening for his sister's breathing to steady. Gabe felt a twinge of guilt as he remembered that roughhousing wasn't exactly the best thing for a fragile girl like Jo, though she hated when they treated her as anything but one of the guys. She sat up and stared at the two crossly, "Hey, listen buckos, I'm fine. Cas, you can stop trying to measure my heart rate with your supersonic hearing and Gabe," she put a hand on her brothers chest and shoved a bit, "you can stop worrying about leaving us to go live with Buff and Will." Gabe furrowed his brow and opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off "I heard you talking to Xander last night. We'll be fine." She smiled her warm, kind smile at Castiel, and Gabe's heart broke a bit, "Right Twin? I won't get into any trouble with this frickin' hawk on my shoulder."

Castiel's face flushed slightly and he sat up as well. "If you were not so reckless with yourself, perhaps I would not have to take a perch there."

"Stop talkin' like a damn textbook and make me one of your damn grilled cheese sandwiches." She grinned as Castiel nodded, shot to his feet and ran quickly inside.

"You have him whipped." Gabe muttered, impressed with her ability to render Castiel helplessly devoted with one look. She smiled a self-satisfied smile and shrugged. Gabe sat up and looked her in the face, catching and holding her gaze. For as soft and beautiful as the girl was, she could turn her eyes into steely daggers when she wanted, and she was on the verge of giving Gabe that very look. "You're going to be okay?"

He had meant for it to come out as a statement, but his voice broke slightly and he sounded unsure. Her gaze softened and she placed a delicate hand on his cheek. He eyes closed and feeling how cold her hand was, placed his own over hers.

"I love you, big brother." She said softly, and kissed him on the nose. "And besides, Xander is going to be staying at home, and Dean. And maybe Dad will get me a car for my birthday."

"US a car, Twin. US." Castiel shouted through the open front door from somewhere inside the house, and Gabriel did a double take before shaking his head and muttering a profanity under his breath.

"We will come visit. And you can take me to college parties and I can meet boys and drink and smoke marijua-"

"Excuse me, not in your life." Gabe snapped, in awe at his sister's audacity.

"Life is short, especially mine. Plus, don't people with cancer smoke weed all the time? I should get a prescription for that shit." She smiled a devilish half smile and Gabe closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

"You'll be the death of me, little sister."

"Not if I die first!" she laughed, pushing Gabe to the ground again and running into the house after Castiel. Gabe watched her run in, and then turned again to the sky. He chewed his bottom lip thoughtfully, and wiped away the wetness that was now forming in his eyes when a familiar voice sounded from the road.

"You really think I'd let your younger halfings run around like maniacs while you're gone? What kinda of pseudo-big brother would I be then?" Xander stood at the end of the driveway, a pile of pizzas stacked in his arms. Gabe got to his feet and went to great his best friend, reaching towards the pizza boxes. "Thanks man, these are hea….vy." Xander's appreciative smile faltered as Gabe merely opened the top box and took out three slices at once and began to munch on them happily.

"Whuaht." Gabe forced through a mouthful of Hawaiian, and Xander shook his head.

"Buffy called. Everyone is heading over to the Summers house for an impromptu going away party. Considering you are the one going away, I'd say it's pretty important you attend."

"JUST GIMME A MINUTE TO BRUSH MY HAIR!" Jo shouted from an upstairs window of the house, and Xander jumped in surprise as Castiel stuck his head out the front door, chewing on a grilled cheese sandwich.

"Did someone say we're going to the Summers? Let me get my first edition of The Divine Comedy, I've been meaning to show Willow for weeks now."

"How the HELL do they do that?" Xander exclaimed, and Gabe shrugged, his eyes wandering across the front of the house to his van. Xander watched his friend closely, and kicked his shin softly to get his attention. "Hey, really though. Everything is going to be fine."

"I don't know, man. I just have this…this feeling, you know?" Gabe scrunched his face up and looked back to Xander, an earnest expression on his face. He lowered his voice, knowing either twin could be listening, "Jo's not doing so hot these days. Bobby says the doctor wants to try chemo again, but Xand…I don't know if she can get through it again."

Xander nodded solemnly, and remembered all too well a few years ago, when Jo and Cas had just turned 16 and her cancer was in remission after a serious bout of chemotherapy. Besides the remission, she didn't respond well to the treatment; Gabe would often show up at the basement door to Xander's room, his hair a mess and bags under his eyes as if he hadn't sleep in days (something Xander was inclined to believe was actually the case). He'd let his friend in and sit with him, often in silence as Gabe took a half hour to himself. Just to sit with his head in his hands, or sometimes cry quietly. Xander didn't mind, he knew that everything Gabe had he gave to his family, which included all his spare time and energy taking care of Jo. Watching her be reduced to a helpless state was often too much for Gabe, and was glad that his friend trusted him enough to find comfort and solace in his presence. He had spoken to Gabriel the night before, and learned that Jo's cancer had returned in full force. He tried not to think of it, but he couldn't even imagine what Gabe or Cas would do if they lost their sister.

He looked towards the house as Castiel trotted down the driveway, a pile of books in his arms about as high as the pizza's Xander was carrying, and Jo followed close behind, pulling her hair into a side ponytail. Xander smirked and looked from Cas, peering over the tottering pile of books, to Jo, who was fiddling with a flower clip. "You two. Weirdos, you are."

"Cas? Yes. I will agree with you there. But if I'm going to be losing my hair any time soon, I might as well play it up while I have it, hmm? I'm thinking of going purple." She squinted at Xander, a smug look crossing her face. Xander swallowed, not sure how to respond, and Jo flicked her hair over her shoulder and began strolling down the street, Castiel following her closely. Xander turned to Gabe, who looked about ten years older than he was, the lines in his tired face deep. He sighed and turned to Xander, his eyes lighting up as he rediscovered the pizza boxes in his hands.

"HEY, did Dean tell you to get any crazy bread?"


	3. Part III

**Title**: Altogether Just Taken Apart

**Fandom**: SPN/BtVS crossover

**Pairings**: Buffy/Dean, Sam/Dawn, more to be added

**Word Count**: 2900ish

**Disclaimer**: I cannot take the credit for the wonderful characters of the Buffyverse and Supernatural. That honour goes to my lord and savior, Joss Whedon and my new hero, Eric Kripke, respectively.

**Summary**: Highschool/College AU, The Summers sisters are best friends with the Winchesters, as well as mishmash of characters from the Whedonverse and Kripkeverse. When Buffy goes to college without Dean, his feelings for her are as unrequited as ever. Not canon obviously, took liberties with age and relations.

**A/N**: blar dee blar. Gabe seems to like tequila as much as I do…

_~Summers-Rosenberg-Singer Residence_

"I expected it to be smaller. You know, like, crack den small. With overgrown weeds in the front and a broken screen door and wood boarding up the windows. But this is decent." Jo stood in the driveway with Castiel, Dawn and Sam, taking in the house before them.

"We're not in Compton, Jo." Sam said, casting a wary glance at her.

It was, as Jo had observed, no crack den. Actually, it was rather nice, and she admired the screened in front porch lit with twinkle lights and covered in honeysuckle snaking its way up the sides, and was even more impressed at the bright blue door that had surpassed tacky and remained at endearingly eclectic. She turned to her twin, who stood very close to her elbow, holding a casserole dish covered in tin foil. "You look like a tool."

"I read somewhere that it's polite to bring prepared food dishes for your host." He looked nervously from his hands to everyone else's empty ones, and gulped. "I suppose you will be telling me my new cardigan is not up to par style wise?"

Sam eyed the grey sweater Cas was wearing, but noted that the blue button-down he wore underneath it had the pleasant effect of bringing out his eyes (which were wide with fear as the group continued to look over his outfit). Sam clapped him on the shoulder and shook gently. "Hey, no worries Cas. You look great. It's your sister I'm worried about."

"What." Jo scowled at him and looked down at her clothes. In ripped black stockings and a plaid skirt, matched with a Misfits tank top, she looked the polar opposite of her twin. "There might be boys here. Maybe we'll bag some college hotties, eh Dawn?"

Dawn smiled nervously and glanced at Sam, who pursed his lips and stared at the door in front of them. They stood in silence for a moment, hearing music blaring loudly behind the blue door. Jo scoffed, then pushed her way in front of the others and knocked loudly. The door swung open almost instantly and the music blasted out, as well as shouts and laughter from somewhere inside.

"Welcome to CASA DE AWESOME!" Gabriel greeted them, a sombrero tipped haphazardly on his head, a bottle of tequila and a bag of Doritos cradled in his arm. The group filed into the house, Gabe still chattering away happily, "Come on, we have to show you how we turned Pin the Tail on the Burrow into a drinking game-EXCUSE ME," He put a hand on Jo's shoulder, stopping her from following the other three, "but WHAT in the name of Castiel's virginity are you wearing?"

Dawn looked around the house, taking note of the changes since she last saw it empty on moving day a month or so ago. It was decorated in a mishmash of styles, and even considering Willow, Gabe and Buffy all had very different tastes (Willow was more warm and romantic, Buffy light and flowery, and Gabe, well, there was a fortress built of empty Pepsi cans sitting in the corner which Dawn assumed was his contribution to the interior design) it all seemed to flow together nicely. She felt warm and safe in the strange little house, even though there was what seemed like hundreds of people flowing in and out of rooms at any given time.

"How did they make this many friends so fast?" Dawn looked to Sam who seemed to be enjoying the hustle and bustle, and Castiel who looked downright petrified.

"I need to find Willow." Cas said loudly, clutching onto his casserole for dear life. With a quick look around though, Dawn could tell finding someone in the crowd of people would be difficult. She felt a strong hand grab her arm and found Sam pulling both her and Castiel through the mass, and towards the warm, yellow light flooding out of the kitchen. Buffy and Willow stood chatting in the corner, until they noticed the three enter the kitchen.

"Dawnie!" Buffy pulled her sister into a hug, and Dawn smiled into her sisters' shoulder. She hadn't seen her in a month, which was a lot longer than she had ever gone without even talking to her sister. She pulled away to see Castiel holding his casserole out at arms length to Willow, who looked both confused and appreciative.

"Thank you for inviting us to your new home Willow, Buffy. I pray you're settling in nicely." Castiel's eyes dropped to his shoes, and Willow smiled at him kindly.

"Gee, thanks Cas. No, really, this is great. We've been living on the Gabriel diet the last few weeks and I have to say, Kraft Dinner is NOT a healthy representation of all four food groups, no matter how much ketchup you put on it."

"BUTTER IS A FOODGROUP IN AND OF ITSELF." Gabriel shouted from the doorway, mid conga-line, but still clutching his tequila bottle.

"So how do you know so many people? You just started." Sam looked to the front door as more people piled into the little house. Willow and Buffy looked at one another and shrugged.

"We don't really know all of them. You mention the word party around campus and a whole bunch of people are bound to show up. Plus some of our new neighbours." Buffy looked around the room curiously, "Where's Dean!" Her smile slid as she turned to Dawn and Sam, who both looked away uncomfortably. Dawn felt awful at the look of disappointment on her sister's face, and cursed Dean for being such a stubborn ass. He hadn't even helped Buffy move into the house, and she was pretty sure they had had little to no contact the entire month.

"I told him about tonight, but he's been pretty busy with work." Sam looked apologetically at Buffy, frowning slightly, "Even I have hardly seen him, Buffy. He takes all these extra shifts and when he is home all he does is work on the car or lock himself in his room and sleep." With the look of sadness on her face, Sam was glad he spared Buffy the gory details of Dean's recent strange behaviour. Which included Sam finding him stumbling into the house at 5am, drunk as hell and breaking anything that crossed his path (which included, Sam remembered sadly, Dean's guitar signed by Angus Young) and ended up in a cursing pile in Sam's bedroom. He babbled mostly, but from what Sam could make out, all he was talking about was Buffy. How he missed her, how he loved her, how she was a bitch for leaving and he was too afraid to go see her. How he felt bad for calling her a bitch, and began softly sobbing and berating himself for, as he so eloquently slurred, "being a huge douchmonger assbutt." Sam knew Dean had always had feelings for Buffy, but he had no idea they were this strong.

"Don't worry, he might show up still." Willow said cautiously, but after catching an unsure glance from Dean, she shoved another beer into Buffy's hand and yelled into the living room, "GABRIEL, DARN IT, PUT MISS KITTY FANTSTICO DOWN AND BRING ME SOME TEQUILA, STAT!"

_~Jo and Cas_

Castiel had wandered off from his friends in search of a bathroom, and found it was probably the worst idea he had ever had in his short life. He somehow ended up in the conga line for a few minutes, desperately trying to claw his way out of the guacamole smelling dining room and finding himself opening the door to a closet instead of a washroom (the closet, to his horror was otherwise occupied by his big brother, shirtless but still in a sombrero, and a scantily clad blonde with Doritos in her shirt) until he finally squeezed himself into the staircase that led up to Willow and Buffy's bedrooms. Once on the second floor, which held almost no people save a few people wandering to and from the bathroom, Castiel heard a small whimpering noise that caught his attention. He stood still for a moment, listening hard, then turned and pushed open a bedroom door with a purple sign that read "Willow" in fancy, gold lettering. He poked his head inside and saw, as he expected, his sister sitting on the edge of Willow's bed. Her legs curled up to her chest and her blonde hair draped across her back and arms, she looked so small and fragile as Castiel carefully padded over and sat beside her. The only light in the room came from the window; a mixture of yellow streetlamp and pale, white moonlight fell on them both, and Jo raised her head slightly to look at him. Castiel stared at his sister, neither of them speaking as neither of them had to. The moonlight seemed almost too heavy for her, and it made her pale skin nearly translucent under its weight. Cas thread his fingers through her hair and pushed it back off her arm and face, locking eyes with her and desperately wishing, with every fibre of his being, that he could take whatever was making her sick and put it on himself. He wished so hard for this every day that it hurt his heart, though he tried not to let her see how sad it made him.

"But you can't hide anything from me, Twin." Jo said softly, and Castiel realized he had been trying quite hard to fix his face into a neutral gaze when he was desperate to break out in full-fledged worry. "I'm fine. It was just getting a little crowded down there. Needed some air." She sat up straight, turning to her brother and placing her hands in his. "Now, why must this always be about me? How are you, my dearest guardian angel?"

Castiel smiled and squeezed her hands, "I am fine, Twin. I've come to realize that I don't understand why people enjoy engaging in socially strenuous activities like house parties," he said the last words like he was describing a disgusting chore, and Jo snorted in laughter at his earnest expression, "but I do enjoy seeing my friends again. I've miss everyone. I've missed-"

"Gabe. Yeah, it's just not the same without him, is it?" She sighed and looked out the window again, a clear view of the street and the passing cars. "Well, we have Sam and Dawn. Though I'm pretty sure they'll be pairing off in no time and we'll be the ugly third wheel."

"Sam and Dawn?" Castiel asked, genuinely shocked at her prediction. Jo chuckled again and ruffled her brother's hair, shaking her head at him.

"Oh COME ON, don't you see it? They're totally gaga for each other. They just need to get a move on. Man, if I had a guy who looked at me the way Sam looks at Dawn, well…" and at Castiel's worried expression she placed a hand on his shoulder and cooed, "of course no man will take me away from you, Twin. We're the same person, you'll never lose me." With those words, Castiel felt his heart jump into his throat, and he knew she felt his uneasiness because she swiftly turned away from him. Her eyes drifted to the street again, and her face lit up slightly at the sight of something below. "Oh, hey!"

Castiel peered out the window as well and saw Xander sauntering up the driveway, two blonde people following behind him who Cas couldn't make out in the dark. Jo was already halfway across the room before she turned and looked to Cas, winked playfully, and then skipped out of the room.

He was left to sit, feeling as if he was sinking in the heavy moonlight, and wonder how he was going to bail himself out with just his bare hands.

"Xander!" Gabe, now including a shirt, threw his arms around his best friend before he even stepped foot in the house, and much to Xander's dismay, proceeded to get guacamole on his shoulder. He laughed though, and patted Gabriel's back before holding him at arms length and giving him a once over.

"Well, no strange facial tattoos, not visible sores or injuries. Looks like college is agreeing with you, my fine, intoxicated friend." Xander chuckled before being pulled into another rib cracking hug and a sloppy kiss on the cheek from Gabe before he wandered off to the sounds of people cheering on a keg stand. He looked to Jo and Cas who were watching from the staircase with an exasperated face, "Intoxicated isn't the word, has he been marinating in tequila all day?"

As he spoke, one of the blonde people who had followed him in, a girl, tugged on his shirtsleeve and said, in what Jo found to be an increasingly annoying whine, "Xander, why did that guy I don't even know try to hug me?"

"Anya, I told you, that's Gabriel. He's my best friend." Xander answered in an almost patronizing tone, and then turned to Jo and Cas again, "These are his siblings, Jo and Cas. Guys, this is Anya, a…er…friend of mine."

"Those are both names that are opposite to your genders. That's strange and rather confusing." Anya said bluntly, and Jo opened her mouth to retort before Castiel made a loud noise in clearing his throat and elbowing her in the side.

"And who is your other friend, Xander?" he asked curiously, eyeing the blonde standing directly behind him. Xander turned, revealing a young looking boy in a black leather motorcycle jacket and slicked back blonde hair. He looked around, unimpressed, and fiddled with the cigarette that was tucked behind his ear.

"This unfortunately is a relative of mine." Xander said tiredly, and the blonde scowled at him, scoffing.

"Like it's so bloody great to be related to you." He spoke in a sharp English accent, and rolled his eyes at Xander.

"This is William. He's a cousin of mine from England. His mother sent him to live with me and my parents because they figured I'd be a good influence on him." Xander explained begrudgingly, and William looked none too pleased with the story as well.

"William," Jo said suddenly, and as he turned to look at her she noticed his eyes were a striking blue, "well for someone in need of a good influence, William isn't such a badass name."

"My friends call me Spike, actually." he said, looking quite smug and smirking at Jo. Castiel looked from him to his sister, feeling slightly uneasy at the amount of eye contact going on.

"Oh, Spike? I'd love to hear the story on how you got that nickna-"

"AND we are moving on, getting drinks, being merry, SOMEWHERE ELSE." Xander grabbed Spike by the arm and pulled him into the dining room, Anya following close behind. Jo watched as Xander dragged Spike from view, though he got a wink in at her before disappearing around the corner. She found herself grinning stupidly, and felt her face flush when she noticed her twin starting at her, dumbfounded.

"What?" she snapped, crossing her arms and staring defiantly at Castiel.

"He's a delinquent, first of all. That's easy to see. Did you see the patches and stuff all over his jacket? He looks like he belongs in a motorcycle gang."

"Ohh, boy. What if he is? He probably has a motorcycle, wouldn't that be great?"

"Like HELL it would!" Castiel said, sounding much more shrill than he intended. Jo grit her teeth and glared at him in disbelief. "Don't even think about pursuing this, Jo. You'll only get hurt-"

"You know what, Castiel?" Cas flinched as she used his whole name, knowing that she was getting quite angry at him, "You can't think that stopping me from doing ANYTHING fun in life is going to fucking save me, because it won't. Stop trying to micromanage my life and let me live what I have left, okay? I'm sick and tired of your hovering!"

She began to storm away, and Cas stood with his mouth agape. "Twin…" he said, trying not to show the hurt in his voice. Jo didn't turn, just flicked her hand back at him angrily.

"Just leave me the fuck alone, Castiel!" she barked, and disappeared into the next room.

Cas felt as though he was submerged in cold water, his hearing muffled and his vision blurred slightly by tears forming in his eyes. He took a deep breath and turned, making his way back upstairs and into Willow's bedroom, where he curled up into a ball on her comforter, just hoping that his Twin would come find him this time.


	4. Part IV

**Title**: Altogether Just Taken Apart

**Fandom**: SPN/BtVS crossover

**Pairings**: Buffy/Dean, Sam/Dawn, more to be added

**Disclaimer**: I cannot take the credit for the wonderful characters of the Buffyverse and Supernatural. That honour goes to my lord and savior, Joss Whedon and my new hero, Eric Kripke, respectively.

**Summary**: Highschool/College AU, The Summers sisters are best friends with the Winchesters, as well as mishmash of characters from the Whedonverse and Kripkeverse. When Buffy goes to college without Dean, hisfeelings for her are as unrequited as ever. Not canon obviously, took liberties with age and relations.

_~Gabe and Macaulay Culkin_

"Oh MY GOD, I feel like I have to throw up my LIFE." Gabe pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes, pushing hard and hoping the pulsing sound in his ears would stop. When he realized it was the sound of his heart beating, he sighed and threw a pillow over his face.

"Shh-shhh-shhhh…" Willow kept her eyes closed as she reached her hand over for Gabriel's face, smacking him lightly with the tips of her fingers, "your words pain me. Don't…don't word anymore."

They were both lying in the middle of Willow's bedroom floor. After having found Castiel curled up and fast asleep on her bed the night before, Willow laid a few quilts and extra pillows on the ground and fell asleep next to him. She woke to find Gabriel had created a nest for himself beside her, and groaned as she noticed his droll staining her favourite pillow.

"Is Cas awake." Gabe muttered, not daring to face the sunlight outside his pillow visor. Willow peeked over the edge of her bed and saw that Castiel was still snoring lightly, his face peaceful and still.

"Naw, still sleepin'. Poor guy, I guess the big party was too much for him." Willow half expected to see Jo lying beside him, but only found Xander on the bench below her windowsill. She lay back down and noticed Gabriel had taken the pillow off his face and was staring at the ceiling. "You okay?"

"Yeh, I just…I'm not sure what bodily function I need to take care of at the moment. It feels like vomit-"

"Please don't say that word…"

"-but I think…ya. It's pee." He got up as quickly as his hungover self could move, and lumbered off down the hall to the washroom. A quick check in the mirror (yup, still handsome. A few finger guns firing, eyebrow wiggling) then turned to the toilet. As he went to flush, he was startled by a sound coming from beside him, and he quickly threw back the shower curtains to reveal someone sitting in his bathtub, apparently fast asleep. He stared for a moment, not sure if he was really seeing what he was seeing. The boy was tall and lanky, with pale skin spattered with deep red freckles. He wore a bright yellow tank top, tight red jeans and leather fingerless gloves. His arms and neck were loaded with bright, beaded bracelets and glow sticks, and he reminded Gabe of a character from the movie Party Monster. But the thing that caught Gabe's attention was the wavy swoop of bright green hair that stuck out from under the purple goggles the kid was wearing on his head. He had never taken ecstasy before, but he was pretty sure this kid was no stranger to it.

He had been staring for a little while when suddenly the boy stirred, and Gabe jumped, accidentally pulling the shower curtain off some of its rings. The boy's eyes snapped open and he looked around wildly, his gaze finally landing blearily on Gabe, blinking hard in fluorescent light. His expression went form bewildered to relaxed, and a smile slid across his face instantly, and when he spoke it came out in a slightly lisped purr, "Well _GOOD_morning, Sunshine." He stretched his long arms out and draped them lazily across the top of his head, looking a still stunned Gabriel up and down, "Mmm, the best part of wakin' up is Folgers in _my_ cup." Gabe realized his mouth was hanging slightly open as the strange boy said "Folgers" in a way that would make Ron Jeremy blush. He closed it quickly and wrung shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Uhm, hi. Who-who are you?" Gabriel asked, almost afraid of the answer. As unorthodox as the boy seemed to be, there was something intriguing about his sleepy brown eyes and easy smile, and the catlike grace in which he now seemed to lounge in the bathtub as if it were a luxurious armchair.

"My name is Lorne, Sunshine." His voice had bravado to it, as if he were about to burst into song at any moment, "but I'm guessing that's not yours."

"G-Gabriel. Gabe. I-I live here." Gabe stammered slightly, and his stutter caused a curl in the corner of Lorne's grin.

"Well, Angelwings I apologize for impeding on your morning routine," Lorne tilted his head and pouted slightly, "need to take a shower?"

"No, no it's okay. You…you can stay there." Gabe nodded and slowly started backing out of the room. "I have to find my housemate, and-I, uhm…" He gripped the doorknob and let out a nervous chuckle. "It was nice meeting you."

"Don't be a stranger!" the smirk on Lorne's face as Gabriel slipped out of the bathroom left him with a strange weight in his stomach, and he headed back to Willow's room to find his siblings.

"Have a nice pee?" Willow asked sleepily, and Gabe stood in her doorway, staring blankly at the room before him.

"There's a club kid in our bathtub." He said flatly, and Willow merely grunted and muttered something about calling Macaulay Culkin. Gabe's daze was broken as he noticed only one of his siblings on the bed before him, and his voice turned panicky as he looked around the room frantically, "Will, WILLOW where is Jo? I see Cas but no Jo."

Willow shot upright and her discovery minutes before dawned on her fully, and she was only a few steps behind Gabe as he practically flew from her room and down the stairs.

_~Spike and Jo_

The morning light was warm on Jo's face as she sat on the front steps outside the screened in sunroom. Spike sat beside her, a cigarette dangling from his lips and flicking his lighter. He seemed to be having trouble getting it lit, and was surprised when Jo took it gently from his hands and lit it for him in one try. She held the flame beneath the tip of his cigarette, smiling slightly at the pleased look on Spike's face as he inhaled his first drag and nodded to her in thanks.

"That's seven years good sex, you know," he took another drag and tapped the bottom of his cigarette pack, "lighting someone's cigarette." He tilted the pack to her and she hesitated a moment before reaching and grabbing one. She went to light it, but Spike took the lighter from her hand and shook his head, "A lady never lights her own cigarette."

"Man, with the 7 years of sex thing that's a pretty decent rule." Jo grinned as he lit her cigarette and touched the tip of his finger to his nose.

"14 years now." He said quietly, and they sat in silence, just staring at one another and smoking. He wasn't sure why, but there was something both calming and exciting about this girl. The way he wasn't sure if she was going to start laughing or turn around and punch the nearest person just for the hell of it. And yet one look at her face and he felt like she had lived a thousand years and was just very tired, and only wanted to sit and just be. So that's what they did, until she spoke through breaths of smoke.

"So you're from England? What's what like? I love your accent."

"Really, you do? Well you should come to England sometime, everyone there has them." He chuckled slightly, relieved that she had smiled at his stupid joke. "England is boring as hell. But not quite as bad as this place." He looked around him ruefully, and Jo elbowed him lightly.

"Excuse me, but it's not all that bad here. Nice, warm weather. Palm trees. The beach." She noted his pale complexion and head to toe dark wardrobe and sighed, "I guess the beach isn't a big selling point for you. But really, it's not that bad."

He turned and looked at her, their eyes meeting and he couldn't help but smile slightly. "No, no it's not all that bad I suppose."

Jo felt her heart beating against her ribcage as if it were going to break free of her tiny body and do summersaults down the street. She let her eyes roam across his face, and took in his prominent cheekbones, his eyes (a soft powder blue compared to her brothers electric ones) and a scar that ran across his right eyebrow. She lifted her hand and ran a ling finger delicately across the scar, and he closed his eyes, breathing in deeply.

"Where did you get this?" she asked softly, and he smirked.

"Wrong dark alleyway at the wrong time of night." He opened his eyes and searched her face, throwing his cigarette to the lawn, "You got any?"

"Ah, plenty." Spike watched as Jo pulled the front of her tank top down, revealing a small pink scar marking her otherwise unblemished chest. Spike looked from her face to the scar, and did as she had, running a finger gently across it. "It's from a chemotherapy port." She explained, and he looked quickly to her face and back to the scar, not realizing that he had been holding his breath the entire time. The palm of his hand brushed against the pink lace that lined the top of her bra peeking out from beneath her shirt, and he glanced up to her face again. She didn't look mad, and he found not a hint of sadness or fear in her face as he placed the palm of his hand over her scar and the other hand cupped her face. He leaned in and kissed her lightly, barely brushing his lips against her. He felt like he would break her if he pressed too hard, but found his theory false when she kissed back with such force that it almost caught him off guard. Her hands found their way into his hair, and she pushed herself into him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and breathed in deeply, noting her lip-gloss tasted like cherries and her hair smelled like summertime, he couldn't quite put his finger on it. His hands had just slid to the hem of her skirt when he heard the screen door behind them creak open and an ungodly sound came from whomever had opened it.

"WHAT THE _ACTUAL_ FUCK."

A sharp blow to the side of his head told Spike that he was in a world of trouble, and as he suspected when he was flung off the front steps and had the chance to look up at his attacker, Gabriel's face was red and furious and coming right at him.

"Gabe, stop! STOP!" he heard Jo's frantic yelling from somewhere above him, but he was seeing stars again as Gabriel's foot connected with the side of his face. He tried to roll away, but soon found himself being dragged into a standing position by the back of his jacket. He turned to see Xander holding off Gabe with one hand and clutching his jacket with the other. Spike felt something hot and salty in his mouth, and brought his hand away from his nose and saw a mass of crimson blood staining his palm. Xander and Gabe were yelling at one another, and he couldn't quite make out what they were saying from the ringing in his ears. But as soon as Xander turned to him with the same murderous rage in his eyes as Gabe had just moments before, he knew that it was probably his time to make an exit.

"JO? REALLY? I BRING YOU TO A PARTY AND YOU MACK ON MY BEST FRIEND'S LITTLE SISTER? _MY_ LITTLE SISTER?"

Spike had never heard Xander yell so loud, and he ducked as another punch flew towards his head. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Jo lunge for Xander's arm and Gabe wind up to run at him again when a small, timid voice sounded at the end of the driveway. They all froze and turned at the same time, and Spike imagined what a sight it must be for the thin, mousy looking girl standing at the end of the driveway and looking quite nervous.

"Excuse me, sorry to uhm, bother you but, uhm…" she spoke in a voice that Spike felt would be better suited for a mouse on helium, and her already gigantic eyes widened at the sight of Spike's blood covered face, "is Lorne here?"

"Right here, Freddles, no worries." Lorne's voice drifted by as he seemed to glide from the front door and across the lawn, pausing only to look Gabe over once and smiling wickedly. He reached the end of the driveway and turned to the group, who were still frozen in a now almost comedic tableau of mid-battle rage. Lorne swept his arm across his chest and bowed slightly, "Adieu, new friends. Don't forget to come visit us sometime, we're just across the road there." He pointed to the small yellow house down the street with what seemed like a hundred wind chimes and various lawn ornaments adorning its front. He turned with a flourish and glided down the street, Fred waving quickly to them while muttering a squeaky apology for interrupting and scurrying off behind him.

Spike turned to Xander and Gabe again, hoping there wasn't a surprise punch waiting for his face again. They both just stood, breathing heavily and scowling at Spike. It was Jo who spoke next, and everyone's attention snapped to her as she looked to her brother and said in a deathly serious tone, "I hate you." With that, she turned quickly on her heel and stormed down the driveway and headed down the road in the direction of the Singer house. Gabe stood, his mouth open as if he were going to call out to her, but looking as if words had escaped him completely. He didn't even give Spike a second glance before turning around and walking slowly into the house, Willow meeting him at the door and placing a hand on his shoulder. Xander, however, glared at Spike angrily and shook his head.

"Get out of here, if you know what's good for you. Get out, now."

Spike didn't need telling twice.


	5. Part V

**Title**: Altogether Just Taken Apart  
**Fandom**: SPN/BtVS crossover  
**Pairings**: Buffy/Dean, Sam/Dawn  
**Word Coun**t: 3000  
**Disclaimer**: I cannot take the credit for the wonderful characters of the Buffyverse and Supernatural. That honour goes to my lord and savior, Joss Whedon and my new hero, Eric Kripke, respectively.  
**Summary**: Highschool/College AU, The Summers sisters are best friends with the Winchesters, as well as mishmash of characters from the Whedonverse and Kripkeverse. When Buffy goes to college without Dean, his feelings for her are as unrequited as ever. Not canon obviously, took liberties with age and relations. 

_~Sam and Dawn_

_"Look, look at this one. Sam. Sam. Sam look. Sammy. Saaaammmy. Sam look."_

"Dawn. I swear to God, if you say my name one more time I am going to legally change it to Captain Awesomepants and I will make you call me that in public places."

Sam seemed glued to his laptop as Dawn danced around him, pushing pamphlets of various Ivy League colleges under his nose; gasping and flailing each time she found something better than the last. They sat in his bedroom, Sam glancing over his laptop screen and out his window to watch Dean work on his car in their driveway. He still couldn't get the disappointed look on Buffy's face when Dean failed to show at her party out of his head, and quietly cursed Dean for being such a stubborn ass. Even after several phone calls from Buffy, in which Dean forced Sam to answer and lie that he wasn't home, Dean had yet to talk to her. When Dawn showed up at their house that afternoon, she made her feelings about him known by ignoring his sheepish greeting and stalking directly off to Sam's room. Sam was pretty sure she had been hearing an irate Buffy's side of the story, and he was disappointed in the fact that Dean had confided nothing in him.

Dawn had surprised Sam when she bombarded him with fliers and pamphlets she had collected from the school guidance office as soon as he got up to his room (after a rather gloomy look from a snubbed Dean). He wasn't sure what had gotten into her; ever since the party she seemed really enthusiastic about Sam attending college. A little too enthusiastic, he noted, as a Princeton pamphlet she was showing him barely missed taking his eye out.

"THAT'S IT." Sam stood abruptly, towering over Dawn and easily scooping her legs from under her and tossing her onto his bed. She squealed as he pounced onto the bed, careful not to land on her, but leaned over her so they were face to face. Dawn giggled uncontrollably and pressed her hands to his chest to push him away as he tousled her hair playfully. He carefully brushed the hair from her face and grinned at her, "You're a pain in the ass, you know that right?" Dawn frowned a bit, her eyes apologetic, and Sam shook his head. He had never really noticed what gorgeous eyes she had. "No, don't give me that look. I only meant, well, you're all Sylvia Plath about me going away to college one minute and the next you're practically packing my bags already. It's almost like," he relaxed his body a bit, their torsos connecting and he wasn't sure whose heart was beating harder against his ribcage; hers or his own, "like you want me to go away."

"Sam! No, that's not it at all!" Dawn's eyes went wide and he could see the anxiety in her face, so he placed his hand gently against her cheek, locking eyes with her. She relaxed a bit, and placed a small, slender hand against his, her face still serious, "I only saw what…what a good time you had at Buffy's party. All the scholarly, collegiate types with their big brains and book talk and, well, I just realized that I want you to be happy."

Sam stared at her, his mouth slightly open in a loss for words. Her wide eyes showed no hint of fibbing, and he realized she was making an honest effort to make him happy. He had known Dawn long enough to know that she was the epitome of a youngest sibling; spoiled, sometimes bratty, and unconsciously self involved. Every once and while though, her huge heart shone through like this. She was often not given due credit in this sense; in her relationship with Buffy, her friendships with the Singers, Willow, Dean and Xander, and, as much as he hated to admit it, even in her relationship with him. How many nights had Dawn stayed up with Sam, studying for finals that she wouldn't even take for another year, or listening to him gripe over breaking up with a girl. All the girls, however few, he had ever shown interest in had all turned out to be flakes, and none of them looked at him with the love that Dawn was showing him right at this moment. How could she still stick by him and wish him happiness when all he had ever done was take her for granted? Sam had been staring at her for a while, lost in thought, before he noticed that she was still rambling on with an increasingly anxious voice.

"Even if that means you moving far away from me, you'd be happy and we'd still see each other and you know I love you…" she blinked when she said those words, and her eyes darted away from his face and back again. Silence filled the room, and for a moment Dawn looked as if she were about to cry. She went to speak again but was instantly cut off by Sam's lips pressed against hers. He breathed in sharply, as their hands immediately flew to grab each other, any part of each other just as long as they were touching. Her fingers curled through his hair, his hands outlined her ribcage, waist and hips until his fingers met the hem of her shirt. He hesitated for a moment, and he opened his eyes to find hers were wide open as well. They stared awkwardly for a moment before Dawn clasped her hands around his and pulled her shirt upwards, quickly reaching for his and doing the same again.

Sam's senses seemed magnified tenfold; the sunlight that was coming through his window warmed the skin on his back, the shadows it created on his bedspread shifted and changed in slow motion as he gently his thumb along Dawn's collarbone, across her chest and up her neck. She shivered, and he felt her tug at his hair lightly. Cupping one hand behind her back, he easily pulled her closer to him and, still kissing, Sam grabbed his comforter and sheets and pulled them over the two of them. For a moment the sheets covered their heads and he asked cautiously, between kisses, "Dawn…Dawn?"

"Hmmm?" she sounded half euphoric, half annoyed that he had stopped kissing her to speak. He opened his eyes and held her face in his hands, smiling slightly as she batted her lashes and finally looked at him. He just watched her for a moment, the light coming through the sheet surrounding them reminding him of the times they would make forts in her room; he would sit and read while she drew or crafted, and every once and a while he would sneak a glance at her and watch as she concentrated hard on whatever she was doing and her hair fell across her shoulders, her skin almost glowing in the warm, golden light through her yellow flowered sheets. It was like their own little world, one of safety and comfort. He thought how foolish he was, that his feelings for her then hadn't been realized until now.

"I love you." his words came out clear and strong, with no hesitation or uncertainty. He felt his heart skip a beat as she smiled and kissed him again, so the world fell away and they were left again in their soft, golden world.

_~Buffy and Dean_

Dean leaned in under the hood of his car, fiddling with the fan belt that had been making odd noises for the past few days. He tried to concentrate on his work, but his mind kept wandering to other, more stressing things. In a serious lack of judgment, he had skipped out on Buffy, Willow and Gabe's housewarming party, and besides the fact that it was a cowardly move on his part, he genuinely regretted not being present for such an important event in his friend's lives. Plus, he missed seeing Gabe kick the living shit out of Xander's cousin, something he'd only seen happen once before, only to Xander himself. The two had gotten in a drunken argument over the age-old debate of Picard vs Kirk, and it turned ugly when their opposing opinions morphed into the two friends exchanging immature jabs at one another's mothers. Xander, apparently without thinking, let out a rather hurtful slur about Gabe being an orphan, which resulted in a sharp left hook to the jaw and a trip to the floor. Gabe, being Gabe, instantly felt awful about hitting his friend, and as quickly as he had struck Xander, he extended his hand to help him up. They apologized profusely to one another for the rest of the night, each knowing the genuine remorse of the other. Dean wasn't sure if it was just him, but after that he noticed Xander had become even more protective of the Singer family.

His reasons for ignoring Buffy were multiple and pathetic, and he felt sick to his stomach just thinking about it. It stemmed mostly from this strange feeling of betrayal, and Dean was beyond angry that his possessiveness of Buffy had caused him to be anything but happy for her. He was also slightly jealous, and feared that she would see him the same way his father did; a useless failure who couldn't get into school and whose future seemed limited to being a grease monkey. Finally, he couldn't shake the horrible ache in his chest when he thought about how much he missed her. He wiped sweat from his forehead, leaving a trail of grease behind and stopped to stare at his hands. Calloused, dirty, rough. He was cut out for this; he might as well accept that he'd be nothing more.

"Well, it's good to know you're not dead."

The voice that sounded behind him shook him from his daze and he stood up abruptly, hitting his head off the hood of his car and cursing loudly. He turned to see Buffy, standing arms akimbo with a less than pleasant look on her face. He ran his hand over the sore spot on his head and tried to find words for what seemed like ages.

"Shit, Buff. You scared me. Ya can't just walk up to people under hoods." He chuckled nervously, and noted from her face that his sore head was probably exactly what she intended. "Listen, Buffy I need to apologize-"

"Oh, you need to do more than that. You need to grovel, you need to kiss my feet and buy me shiny things. You need to start explaining why my best friend suddenly decided that I wasn't good enough to even call anymore."

"Good enough? No, Buff that' not what-"

"Then WHAT? WHAT possibly could I have done to piss you off so righteously that you didn't even say goodbye before I left for school? Dean, I know I'm not the easiest person to get along with but you're not frickin' peach either. You're immature, you're indecisive," Dean stood and let her spit her venom at him, knowing he deserved every word, and Buffy slowly got louder and louder, taking a few steps forward, jabbing her finger at him, "you're a coward. If you can't deal with something you just ignore it hoping it will go away. Well I'm not going away, Dean! We've been through too much to-"

"I love you."

He said it suddenly, and was as shocked by it as Buffy looked. She dropped her arms and stared at him, and he suddenly wished he could just crawl under the hood of the Impala, close it, and never come out again. They stood in stunned silence for what seemed like ages, until Buffy took a breath.

"Dean-"

"No, no," something snapped in Dean and he took an urgent step towards her, feeling like everything that has gone through his head for the past month, no, the past 5 years was to come tumbling out of his mouth before he could stop it, "I love you. I've always loved you. Since the first day I met you, the first moment I saw you. Isn't that what you chicks want, that love at first sight crap? Well here it is, I love you. And I'm not a lovey dovey guy so you know how hard this is for me to say. I have never felt this way about anyone before, anyone! And believe me, there have been plenty of girls, PLENTY and yet it still all comes down to you. You're perfect, but god, you're so flawed and I love everything about your flaws and your perfections and dammit, you are such an insufferable BITCH sometimes," he hadn't meant to shout that word with such vigor and saw her mouth drop open, startled at his accusation, "and you're so stubborn and you think you're always fucking right which you're NOT, I hate to break it to you-"

"Is this supposed to be making me like you more?" Buffy asked incredulously, throwing her hands up in frustration.

"No, see I love you for these things," Dean said weakly, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her slightly to emphasize his frustration, "I love that you stand up for yourself and the people you love and that you never back down, and you're so brave and that you're confident and think you don't need anyone," he frowned as she looked away from him and put his hand under her chin, bringing her gaze back to his, "like I know you don't need me. But, Buffy…Buffy I need you. And being just as stubborn as you are, that's hard to admit but I've realized it, and I've been avoiding you because I didn't want to believe that I needed you as much as I do, but I know it now. I need you. I love you." He stared at her for a moment, unable to read her face. Without thinking, Dean leaned in to kiss her.

Buffy pulled away from him, her face a mixture of sadness and fear. He watched as she slowly backed down the driveway, tears forming in her eyes and her voice breaking, "Dean, why. Why did you have to do this?"

"Do what? Tell you how I feel?" he said angrily, his chest tightening with the hurt he felt at her rejection.

"Ruin everything!" she cried, shaking her head, "Everything was so good, we were just friends, and we were there for each other and I thought that was all you wanted from me, because that's all I want from you."

Dean felt his heart break at her words and looked away from her, clenching his jaw and balling his fists. She looked suddenly apologetic, and took a step towards him, reaching her hand out.

"Dean, I'm sorry. You know I love you, but not-"

"Yeah, I get it. Don't worry," he snapped, nodding and looking towards her again. She was crying now, silent tears rolling down her flushed cheeks. Part of him felt sorry for making her cry, part of him was glad. He went to speak again, lost the words in his throat, and instead turned and walked to the front door. As he walked away he thought he heard her call his name, but he didn't turn back.

_~Fred and Lorne_

Winifred Burkle sat on her back porch enjoying the sun (responsibly, SPF 5 million and a big floppy hat to protect her fair skin), a book (Of Human Bondage, for the fourth time) and a cup of tea (green). It was rounding on noon, so she figured Lorne would be getting up within the next half hour and she should start thinking about where they should go for lunch. Her roommate, as much as she loved him, was not on the same clock as this early riser. In fact, Fred was quite certain that Lorne Hallet wasn't on the same clock or even the same dimension as most people. How the two seemingly opposite people came to be best friends and had yet to kill each other as roommates was beyond her. She was beautiful, yet bookish; a southern belle with horn-rimmed glasses. And a shy homebody to Lorne's wanderlust, social butterfly. He was a true Californian, born and raised in LA. They had met when Fred moved to California to attend school and was the first to respond to his roommate wanted ad. As overwhelming as Lorne was to some, they seemed to click automatically and she came to learn that he was, in fact, a big, gentle teddy bear.

The teddy bear in question came ambling through the back door, blinking in the sunlight and running a hand through an unruly nest of bright green hair. Fred smiled up at him, and noted that if the sun didn't blind her then his neon orange Culture Club tshirt and shiny, silver hotpants would.

"Morning, Thelma."

"Morn'n, Louise." He muttered as he rubbed his eyes and yawned widely. Fred put her book down and grabbed an orange she hadn't eaten at breakfast.

"Hungry? Look, you match."

"Not feeling very fruity right now, dollface." He paused, giving Fred a pointed look before chuckling to himself. "Got any cookies?"

"In the Tardis."

Fred followed Lorne in as he skipped towards their kitchen, stopping at the corner counter and pulling a chocolate chip cookie out of the blue cookie jar. It lit up and whirred at him, and he gave her a tired look through his thick lashes. "You are NEVER going to get a boyfriend. Ever. Look at your life," he gestured to the cookie jar, "look at your choices."

"Shut up. Look at you; you're a walking pride parade. Ever heard of subtlety?" Fred snatched the cookie from his hand and plopped herself down at the small table in the corner of their kitchen. Lorne licked his lips and blew a kiss at her before flipping the bird and taking another cookie. "Oh, lunch! What do you want to do? In and Out, sushi, that sketchy looking Mexican place downtown?"

"Mmm, before we go anywhere I have to stop by that house that had the party the other night. Y'know, the one whose front lawn looked like Tyler Durden lived there?" he raised his eyebrows and Fred grimaced, "Anyways, I left my pretty purple goggles there and I need 'em back." He glanced down to the counter and drew little circles with his pinky, as Fred watched him closely.

"There's something else," she said slowly, and a look of realization dawned on her and she gasped, "you freakin' spatula. Who did you turn this time?"

"No one!" he said, raising his hands dramatically, and she gave him a skeptical look. "Okay, well there's a guy who lives there. Gabriel."

"Tell me you don't know him biblically." Fred sighed, and he gave her an incredulous look.

"Ha-ha. Well done. No, no, Chuckles. I have a feeling this flapjack don't need much flipping." He raised an eyebrow and grabbed another cookie from the jar, shoving the entire thing in his mouth and walking from the kitchen, swaying his hips. "You should come with, you never got to meet them all! Lovely bunch, there's a cute ginger and a feisty little blonde as well. I forget their names, one's a tree and the other could be in porn."

Fred sighed and stood up, following him out of the room and into the front hall. She watched as Lorne pulled a pair of blue flowered board shorts on over his hotpants, and cleared her throat quietly. He turned to her, a small smile on his face.

"Just…promise me you won't get your hopes up over this guy," she said softly, placing both hands on his shoulders, "I don't want you falling for someone you have no chance with."

"Oh, sugarplum, don't worry. I'm not falling for anyone just yet. All I said was that he's cute. He has nice eyes," he grinned and opened the door, and Fred grabbed her purse before following him out, "and a nice ass! I swear, I thought I had died and gone to heaven!" They both let out fake, theatrical laughs before Fred shut and locked the door behind them.

****

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to a few people, both friends and heroes: In Memory of Andy Hallet, a wonderful actor and one of my favourite characters from the Whedoneverse, always remembered. Jane Espenson, who via Twitter encouraged her followers to turn off all distractions and write for a solid half hour...done and done, my liege! ...and Katy because her fics inspire me to keep writing mine, and she's just been so awesome and cool and reminds me so much of Fred, how could I not!


	6. Part VI

**Title**: Altogether Just Taken Apart

**Fandom**: SPN/BtVS crossover

**Pairings**: Buffy/Dean, Sam/Dawn, Lorne/Gabe, Spike/Jo

**Word Count**: 5000 ish

**Disclaimer**: I cannot take the credit for the wonderful characters of the Buffyverse and Supernatural. That honour goes to my lord and savior, Joss Whedon and my new hero, Eric Kripke, respectively.

**Summary**: Highschool/College AU, The Summers sisters are best friends with the Winchesters, as well as mishmash of characters from the Whedonverse and Kripkeverse. When Buffy goes to college without Dean, his feelings for her are as unrequited as ever. Not canon obviously, took liberties with age and relations.

**A/N**: Long, but I need to cover more ground.

_~Spike and Jo_

Sitting in the basement of the Harris household, which also served as Xander's bedroom, Spike was about to rope a noose through the rafters and hang himself out of pure boredom. He sat on the lumpy beanbag chair that smelled oddly like cat ('oddly' because Xander did not own a cat) and flicking through the channels on the small TV that balanced precariously on a pile of laundry and comic books.

"Where's bloody Corrie when you need it?" he muttered, chucking the remote across the room. It bounced off the doorframe just as the door opened, and a familiar face poked out from behind it.

"Whoa! I come in peace!" Jo yelped, and Spike felt his heart jump into his throat. He sprung up from his beanbag and brushed the crumbs and creases from his shirt and jeans. Jo looked around the room carefully and smiled at Spike, "Any more projectiles you wanna aim at my head, or can I come in?"

"Sorry 'bout that. And yeah, I reckon you can come in. I'm sure you're more at home here than I am." Spike said grumpily, scratching the back of his head and looking around the room. It was small even for one person, let alone two. He had taken to sleeping on the small army cot in the corner, though sleeping was a loosely used term. He was either kept awake at all hours by Xander's snoring, or he would come home to find a tube sock tied to the outside doorknob, signaling that Anya was over and Spike was not welcome. He would then take to exploring the town, at first looking for bars and record stores. When he found that Sunnydale had a total of two bars, one of which was also a family restaurant, Spike found comfort in another wayward soul. Though he knew he would probably get the piss beaten out of him again if anyone knew, he had been seeing Jo almost every night since the party at Gabriel's.

He had never felt as comfortable with someone, yet so on edge at the same time as he was with Jo. She was easy to talk to, and had a brutal honesty that he admired and appreciated. He was also grateful that she was a wanderlust adventure seeker like him, and knew all the fun (and often illegal) things to do in town. Just the other night she had shown up at the house with a bottle of wine and a wicked grin, and she took Spike to the drive in at the bottom of a grassy slope at the edge of town. They had crept up to the property line and through a hole in the chain link fence, and they sat at the top of the slope, looking down at the parking lot filled with cars and the giant screen that was showing "The Shining".

"You know, I could've bought the wine. I am 22." Spike mentioned after taking a swig from the bottle and handing it back to her. She shrugged and swallowed her gulp of wine before giving him a patronizing look.

"Yeh, but where is the fun in that? It tastes so much better knowing I swiped it from unsuspecting townies. I love being that small town girl everyone knows. You could kill their mother right in front of them and they wouldn't notice, just as long as ya give 'em the ol' cancer eyes. " She batted her lashes and pouted, and Spike felt a nervous chuckle escape him. He sidled over to her and draped his arm across her shoulders. She didn't often bring up the "c" word, though when she did it was always in a joking manner. He wondered at that moment if her lighthearted approach to it was just a way to cover up how scared she was. He knew her brothers were; the way they watched her like a hawk, and treated her like she was made of glass. He knew she was a lot tougher than most girls, and from what he saw of her in the past few weeks. He had to admit though, he was scared shitless.

Now she stood, smiling from the doorway at him and all Spike could think was how incredibly terrified he was about what he was feeling. He was a damn player, for the love of god. Back home he'd use 'em and lose 'em, and yet they still came back for more. How girls all seemed to go crazy over the "bad boy" image was beyond him. But the thing with Jo was, and she made it quite clear, that she didn't need him. She acted as if he was gone tomorrow, she could move on with her life just fine. She didn't need to chase him. That was certainly right, because with her coolness and near indifference towards him, he felt uncontrollably drawn to her and knew now how all those girls back home must of felt.

"Ready to go?" she asked cheerfully, and he nodded, grabbing his jacket before heading out the door.

"Where exactly are we going?" Spike asked, genuinely curious but with an edge of apprehensiveness to his voice. She seemed a little too cheerful, and from the four or so weeks he had spent with her, he knew the dangerous shine to her eyes when she had an idea that would make Evel Knievel nervous.

"Do you even know what day it is today?" Jo asked, staring at him in disbelief. They made their way down the driveway and began walking towards town, and Spike shrugged and shook his head, looking at her apologetically.

"It's October 30th," she said bluntly, and Spike frowned in confusion, "the night before Hallowe'en? Devil's Night?"

"Uhm, we're not much for Hallowe'en in England," Spike said slowly, "and isn't that stuff for kids, anyways? Dressing up and getting candy."

"Oh, William," she stopped walking and put both her hands on either side of his face, "Hallowe'en has evolved into a teenager's dream night. You get to dress up and go to a party and drink yourself silly."

"So it's like every other weekend, except-"

"Except I will be wearing leopard print and teasing my hair, and you'll be shirtless and spiking yours up." She grinned, and Spike scoffed, shaking his head.

"Sid and Nancy? Really? You couldn't think of any other leather clad British stereotype to go with?"

"Well, I didn't think you'd go for Freddie Mercury."

She laughed, and Spike couldn't help but smile. She turned to start walking again, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him. He wrapped his arms around her small frame and pressed his forehead against hers, softly touching her nose with his. He noticed up close that her eyes looked tired and dark, and her skin was slightly sallow. He knew she tired easily lately, and he let her drop her weight against him, holding her tightly to his chest. She closed her eyes and sighed contentedly, and he kissed her gently on the nose and then on the lips.

"You know, if my mates from back home could see me now," he said softly, and they began turning slowly on the spot as if the street had become a high school dance floor and they stood, swaying to nonexistent music, "they'd take the mickey outta me. It's not often I fall in love with girls…" he paused as she opened her eyes and blinked at him, her face unreadable. He took a breath and pursed his lips, not quite sure why he said what he did. To his relief, she merely smiled and kissed him lightly.

"I'd like to meet your friends. I'd like to come to England with you."

"Sure, I'm sure you can come visit sometime, when I'm back there and all. I'm just here to keep me mum quiet, but once I get some money I'll have my own flat-"

"I don't mean to visit." Jo said quietly, and Spike looked down at her, confused. "I want to get away from here. I want to leave California, leave my house, leave all this and just…go!" She took a step back from Spike, and twirled on the spot, smiling and running her fingers through her hair. "You ever feel like you just gotta GO!"

"Yeh, but, what about your family. I mean, me and my newly deviated septum aren't the biggest fans of your brother right now, but you can't just up and leave your family. And I'm pretty sure, from what you've told me of Castiel, it'd probably kill him if his twin was in another state, let alone another country."

Jo's smile slid from her face and she looked as tired as Spike had ever seen her; mixed with a rising, dull flush to her pale cheeks and her eyes darkening, Spike could tell he had most definitely said the wrong thing. The mention of Castiel stirred an angry and guilty look on her face, and Spike assumed that their relationship wasn't quite perfect as of late.

"Jo, I didn't mean-I-of course I'd love for you to come live with me in England. In fact, that sounds brilliant. But you can't just make these rash decisions without thinking about-"

"What? My brothers? My friends? The fact that I'm sick?"

Spike winced slightly and shook his head, "Jo I never said anything about-"

"You don't have to say it. I know everyone thinks it. You know how hard it is to even get out of the house to see you? It's like being in prison! My brothers may care for me, but taking care of me has become something to make THEM feel better. And my friends? I know what everyone thinks. Poor Jo, too sick to do anything. Can't go out with boys, can't drink, can't smoke. Can't take a shit without getting the go ahead from everyone in her life. Well, fuck. If that's my fucking life from now on then I don't want it!"

How earnestly she said those last words made the hair on the back of Spike's neck stand on end. He tilted his head slightly and reached into his pocket, pulling a pack of cigarettes out. Jo watched as he pulled one out, lazily put it to his lips and lit it. He then just stared at her patiently.

"What?" She spat, and he shrugged.

"I'm waiting."

"For what?"

"For you to finish talking." At his words Jo looked shocked, and she stared at him open mouthed for a moment before clenching her jaw tight and fighting back the tears forming in her eyes. Spike slowly sauntered over and tucked his hand beneath her chin, studying her face. "I figure you must get a whole lot of people talking about what you need, and no one listening." She blinked, her thick black lashes pushing tears down her face, and she nodded slightly. Spike nodded as well, and gently swept his thumb across her cheek to catch the heavy tears rolling towards her chin. "You don't have to have this wall built up all the time, Jo. It's okay to be scared. But it's okay to be happy, too."

With this, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him as tightly as she could manage. Spike threw his cigarette aside and wrapped his long arms around her waist, nuzzling his face into her neck.

"Come on!" she said suddenly, throwing herself off of Spike and dancing backwards down the street, a grin plastered on her face. "We gotta get you some black hairdye!"

Spike sighed and followed the skipping girl down the road. Whatever wall he had broken down with her was back up almost instantly, and he was sure it'd be even harder to get through now.

_~Family Dinners_

_Winchester_

"Boys, I just got an emergency call. Some of the guys called in sick and they need extra paramedics. Are you gonna be alright for a few hours?"

"Dad, seriously. We're old enough to be left alone in the house for an indefinite amount of time. I think I can even handle using the microwave by myself." Dean slurred through a mouthful of food, and John rolled his eyes.

"That's wonderful, Dean. And I wonder why you don't have a girlfriend." He joked, but Dean swallowed his food hard and stared down at his plate, frowning. John continued, not noticing his son's change in demeanor, "No, I just mean it's devil's night. Some crazy stuff goes down on this night, I don't care what people say. Sammy, don't forget your homework and make sure you walk Miss Summers here home." He nodded to the table, where Dawn sat beside Sam, and across from Dean and Castiel, who was quietly pushing food around his plate with his fork.

"ALRIGHT, Dad." Sam said loudly, and John winked at them before turning and leaving out the front door.

Sam cast a sideway glance to Dawn and smiled slightly, and Dawn's cheeks turned a bright pink. Dean watched the two of them, and frowned as Dawn stood abruptly and cleared her throat.

"We should get to that homework, Sammy." She said in an uneven tone and Sam looked from her to his brother, who had a look of realization dawn on his face that went from confusion to surprise, and when he looked as if he were about to shout an obscenity across the room, Sam stood as well.

"Yeah, how about you get up there and I'll join you in a second." He stared at Dean hard, pleading with his eyes for his brother to keep whatever he had to say in until Dawn was out of the room. As she climbed the stairs, Dean let out a low whistle.

"You two! Are-you're having-you-the sex!" Dean stammered, pointing from where Dawn disappeared into the staircase and to Sam, who raised his hands in front of him and shushed his brother.

"Dean, honestly. Tact?" he said quietly, and sat down again, looking his brother in the eye. There was a moment of silence were the two just stared at one another, and Cas still sat silently, prodding his lasagna. "I love her." Sam finally said, and Dean's glare softened. He watched his brother smile at the words he just spoke, and he felt both happy for him and angered that he hadn't known about this before.

"Sammy, why didn't you tell me?" Dean asked, leaning forward and punching Sam lightly on the shoulder, "Seriously, I thought big brothers were supposed to talk about this sort of stuff with their little bros."

"Well, you haven't exactly been available lately." Sam said, a hint of resentment in his voice. Dean frowned and looked sideways to Cas, who didn't seem to be at all interested in what they were discussing. Sam crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, staring at his brother hard. "Why didn't you tell me about what happened with Buffy?"

Dean looked up at him sharply, and Sam rolled his eyes.

"Dawn told you?" he asked, and Sam nodded. He sighed and placed both hands on the table, speaking to his can of soda instead of facing Sam. "I'm sorry I haven't been the brother I should be to you. These past couple months have been hard on me. On all of us, I think." He looked over to Cas, who stopped poking his food and chewed his bottom lip. Dean put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, "We've all been kinda neglecting each other, haven't we? I'm sorry. It won't be like that anymore." He looked to Sam, who nodded slightly. "I love you guys, you know that right?"

The phone rang, the shrill tone breaking the silence they sat in. No one moved to answer it; the boys sat staring at one another, feeling glued to their seats. The ringing stopped, and Dean assumed it had gone to voicemail or they had hung up. He stood, walking around the table to Sam and grasping his brother in a tight hug. They stood like that for a moment, until Dean felt another pair of arms wrap around his back and he knew Cas had silently padded over to the pair and joined in their hug. He reached his arm around and pulled Cas into their embrace and they three boys chuckled at their awkward little pow-wow.

They pulled away as they heard footsteps running hurriedly down the stairs, and Dean turned to see Dawn standing, the phone in her hand and eyes wide.

"It was your dad." She spoke in a shaky voice, and before she could finish her sentence Dean heard Cas gasp softly, and felt him leave his side and fly to the front door. Confused, he looked from Cas to Dawn, who's eyes were filled with tears now, "We need to call Bobby and get Gabe and go to the hospital, right now."

_Summer, Singer, Rosenberg, Harris, Hallett and Burkle_

"Oh my frilly Christ on a bicycle, what is IN this? It's delicious!"

"Cheese, lots of cheese. We're a cheesy household."

Lorne and Fred were joined by Gabe, Buffy, Willow and Xander, all of them crammed around three different tables joined together in their tiny kitchen. The two had invited the group over for dinner one night after visiting their house to retrieve Lorne's goggles, and Lorne was happy to see that everyone seemed to be having a good time. The table groaned under the weight of the food each of them had brought, and Lorne helped himself to another spoonful of a strange orange casserole that Willow had made. He grinned and looked around the table at his new friends; Buffy was chatting animatedly with Xander, Willow and Fred seemed to be hitting it off over a conversation on some book he had never heard of and was therefore not interested in, and he glanced every once and a while at Gabe, who looked almost nervous and smiled a small smile at him every time their eyes met.

"Well, I'm stuffed. How do you eat so much? Where do you PUT it?" Xander said exasperatedly to Lorne, and he shrugged, winking at Gabe and leaning back in his chair.

"My metabolism understands that my love affair with food is the only thing that surpasses my love affair with Broadway musicals and it cuts me a break," he smirked as everyone chuckled at this, and stood up grabbing his plate. "Which of you bitches is gonna help me with the dishes?"

"I will." Buffy said, laughing. She rose and followed him to the kitchen sink. They stood side by side as Lorne filled the sink with water and soap, and he glanced at her as she watched the bubbles in the sink start forming and rising.

"Hey Bunny," he said softly, "what's bothering you in that sad little noggin of yours?"

"Sad? I'm not sad." Buffy said with a poor attempt at sounding cheerful. She placed the dishes she was holding into the sink and began scrubbing them with a sponge. Lorne watched her carefully and scoffed lightly.

"Dollface, I have this uncanny ability where I can read people real frickin' well. And I'm even better at knowing when I'm being lied to." He smiled as she stopped scrubbing and frowned at the bubbles. "Boy troubles?"

"My best friend is in love with me." She said ruefully, and Lorne nodded wisely.

"Ahh, that's a doozy. See, I don't have that problem." He said jerking his head towards Fred, and Buffy smirked at him knowingly. He stopped smiling, "What? WHAT?"

"But you have eyes for someone we both know, true?" she said slyly, and Lorne pressed his lips together tilting his head so that he could catch a glance at the kitchen table. Gabe sat with Fred now, and he must've been telling a joke because the whole table laughed and he saw Fred glance up at him smiling. She nodded and threw a thumbs up at Lorne, who stared at her in disbelief. He shook his head as she continued to glance from Gabe to Lorne with a smug look on her face, and when Gabe finally noticed their silent exchange across the room, he looks between the two with a confused smile. Lorne turned back to the sink quickly.

"I have a question," he asked softly, but didn't get to finish as Buffy laughed and passed Lorne a plate to dry.

"I've always wondered, and I'm not quite sure. But in all honesty I say go for it. He seems to like you, and he kept looking at you through dinner." She shoved a cup into Lorne's hands and turned to look at him feircly, "But he's a very good friend of mine and if you hurt him I will find you and do horrible, horrible things to your signed Madonna poster."

Lorne didn't have time to respond, as Buffy turned to see Gabe standing behind both of them with a handful of plates. "Mind if I cut in?"

"Be my guest, I think I'm going to be really disgusting and just eat the leftover cheese thing straight out of the casserole dish." Buffy winked at Lorne and walked back to the table and plopped herself down next to Xander, who looked over his shoulder at Gabe and Lorne, frowning.

Lorne turned to Gabe and smiled, holding up a sponge in one hand and a towel in the other. "Wash or dry?"

Gabe grabbed the sponge and turned to the sink full of water and began washing a large pot. Lorne leaned against the counter and watched him for a moment before speaking, "Do you like movies?"

Caught slightly off guard, Gabe stopped washing and stared at Lorne, a pensive look on his face. "Yeh, yeh I guess I do. Do you?"

"I do. We should, uhm, watch one. Sometime," he cleared his throat and bit his bottom lip, "together."

He expected Gabe to freak out; throw the sponge across the room and yell, call him names and tell him to keep the hell away from him. He braced himself for the rejection that normally came with asking a guy you just met out. Instead, Gabe looked thoughtfully at the pot and smiled, "I'd like that." He passed the pot to Lorne, who stared at him in astonishment. Lorne reached for the pot and their hands touched, and he felt a small jolt go through his chest as if he had just been shocked.

They were shook from their conversation as the sound of a car door slamming shut outside and a loud rapping at their screen door startled everyone in the room. Lorne stepped out of the room and had no time to open the front door before a tall stranger walked into his house followed by a rather anxious looking young man. He heard Gabe follow behind him and stop in the doorway.

"Dean? Cas? What-"

"Gabe," Lorne looked from Gabe to the two newcomers, and saw the younger one speak, "Gabe it's Jo."

It took all of five seconds for the entire group of people who were once crammed in his kitchen to make their way through the front hall and out the door, Gabriel in the lead.

_~Altogether_

It must've seemed odd to anyone else watching the troupe of young people burst through the hospital doors and fill the hallways like a flood; each with the same anxious look on their face, eyes searching until they came upon a waiting room and seemed to have found who they were looking for.

"Dad," Gabriel choked out, and he flung himself into the arms of a clearly distraught Bobby Singer. The crowd followed him and stood around the two, all nine of them either holding on to one another or reach out to touch Bobby. They parted, and Bobby eye's swung round the group to search for his other son. Castiel had detached himself from the group and was now standing silently in front of a window looking into the nearest room, and didn't move as Gabriel and Bobby walked towards him, standing on either side. They looked in at the small, blonde girl laying in the bed, tubes branching off her to various machines and bags of fluid. Bobby put a hand on Castiel's shoulder and looked over to Gabriel, who's hands were shoved deep into his pockets, his face a frown that threatened to break at any moment.

"She seized. She was without oxygen for a while, and she's been out ever since. Docs say they dunno what damage has been done until she-" Bobby took a breath and forced the words out painfully, "if she wakes up."

Gabriel turned sharply and pressed his palms against his eyes, "Where was she when it- I mean, who found her?"

"Spike." Bobby said quietly, and Gabe opened his eyes and turned to the waiting room. In their hurry to get there he hadn't even noticed Spike sitting in the corner of the room, slouched over in a chair with his head in his hands.

Gabriel clenched his teeth and it took three long strides across the before he was a foot away from Spike, "What the FUCK were you doing with my sister, huh? You mother fucker, I should-" he lunged at Spike, but Xander caught him and pulled him back, wrapping his arm around Gabe's chest and holding his arms down from swinging at Spike. Spike stood and grimaced at Gabe, taking a step forward as he spoke.

"You know what? Fuck you! You want to fucking have this out, come on!" Spike slid his coat off and threw it aside, and Gabe made to lung at him again before Bobby's voice boomed throughout the waiting room.

"Both of you idjits stop this nonsense right now!" he said loudly, not yelling but in a tone so commanding that it stopped both Gabe and Spike cold. They glared at one another as Bobby continued, "Gabriel Maturinus Singer, if it weren't for this boy your sister could be in a hell of a worse place right now. We're lucky she was with him when it happened. Now get down off that overprotective high horse of yours and deal with the situation at hand. Christ almighty, boy…"

Gabriel yanked himself away from Xander and, after casting a wary glance at Castiel, barged through the doors they had entered from. Xander turned to Spike, who stood staring at the group defiantly his chest heaving. "Thank you," Xander said quietly, and Spike did a double take before staring at him in disbelief, "Spike. Thank you."

"I didn't...I wasn't sure what to do. She just- she, oh God-" Spike's voice broke slightly and Xander took a step towards him, cautiously putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I know. We've been here before. It's just lucky that you were there. You did good, you got her here safe, now all we can do is hope she's okay." Xander said softly, all the contempt he had for his cousin was absent from his face. Spike blinked rapidly and wiped his nose with his sleeve then looked from the group, who stood in stunned silence, back to Xander.

"What if she doesn't wake up? Xander, she can't-" his eyes widened at the words he almost spoke and he sat back down in his chair, and Xander sat next to him. He looked over to his friends and saw that Castiel still stood, staring into the window like a store mannequin. He also noticed the absence of one green haired person from the room.

"Gabe?"

The voice that spoke behind him turned his head, and Gabe saw Lorne standing in the automatic doorway of the hospital. It was dark outside now, and unnaturally cold. Gabe could just see his breath in the chilly air, though he didn't feel anything but the hot rush of blood flushing his face. He looked down to his shoes, suddenly ashamed at what he had just done back inside. The soft sound of Lorne's footsteps coming towards him and the gentle, slender hand that touched his arm caused Gabe to shiver slightly, though it wasn't for the cold. He turned to Lorne, whose normally jovial, young face was lined with worry.

"I'm sorry you had to witness that." Gabe said flatly, and Lorne shook his head.

"Hey, it's alright. Your sister is in trouble, anyone would react that way." Lorne squeezed his arm lightly. Gabe looked down to Lorne's hand on his arm, and Lorne gasped quietly and went to pull it away, "I'm sorry, I didn't-" He stopped when Gabe took his hand and held it, keeping a strong but gentle grip. They looked to one another and Lorne offered a small smile, as Gabe closed his eyes and took a deep breath. So they stood, hand in hand under the soft glow of the nearby streetlight, and Gabe had never felt more terrified in his entire life. But he was glad he had someone to share it with.

Buffy stood at the vending machine, staring at the choices of candy bars and bags of chips it was giving her but not really taking any of it in. She pressed a few random buttons and watched as a Bounty bar fell from it's perch on the top row. Before she could lean over to get it, a hand reached in and pulled it out from behind the flap. She looked over and saw Dean holding her candy bar, and leaning over to put a dollar bill into the slot.

"Hey, excuse me that's mine-" she started angrily, before he shoved Reese's Cups in her hands. She looked down at it frowning, then back at him.

"You hate coconut." He said quietly, and she looked back to the bar in her hands. She vaguely remembered the orange package and the smell of peanut butter and how she did, in fact, hate coconut. She opened a corner of the package and slipped a cup out, realizing through her daze it was her favourite candy.

"Sorry, I just- Wow. I'm not thinking straight right now." She said slowly, and Dean nodded, unwrapping the Bounty bar and nibbling on it. Buffy's face became pained, and she took a small breath, "Dean, I-"

"I know. I'm sorry. Buffy," he stared at her hard as she looked up at him, her eyes glossy with tears, "I shouldn't have pushed this on you. I'm so-"

He was cut off by a bone-crushing hug from her, and he gladly wrapped his arms around her tiny waist and kissed the top of her head. He breathed in deep, smelling her hair and realizing fully just how much he had missed his best friend. Dean knew, as they stood in their embrace for a long while and he heard he begin to weep softly into his chest, that this wasn't a solution to their problem. He knew that he'd probably run away again as soon as things got rough, and he knew he'd probably hurt her again through his cowardly stubbornness. But in that moment, with his best friend in shambles before him, Jo unconscious in the next room and his friends-his family- splitting apart at the seams all around him, in that moment he stood and held the girl he loved with no conditions or apprehensions for the future.

_~Cas and Jo_

"You can go in, if you'd like."

His father's voice sounded hundreds of miles away, or like he was hearing it from under water. Castiel heard him, and felt his head nod though he was not sure what was controlling it. He barely tore his eyes away from his sister as he stepped from the window to the door, opening it and slowly walking into the room. The silence of the room made the slide-click of the door shutting sound almost like a gunshot, and Cas jumped slightly. He finally took his gaze from his sister and looked around the room timidly. The machines she was hooked too made soft beeping noises, and he found her heart-rate on the screen and watched it pulse steadily, but slowly. He looked back to Jo now, and made his way to her beside. They had always been relatively the same size, but looking down on her now she seemed so incredibly small. Her thin body almost had no effect on the blue sheets and mattress below her, as if she were just a feather on the bed.

Carefully Castiel sat on the mattress next to her and gingerly took her hand in his. His breath caught in his chest as he examined the breathing tube in her throat, and wished so very hard in that moment that her shadowy, lilac bruised eyelids would flutter open and he's see the large hazel eyes that mirrored his own blue look back up at him. But instead she just lay there, looking cold and empty, not at all like she was sleeping as Cas had seen in movies and on TV; her lips were pale and chapped, and her hair looked dull and dead spread across the pillowcase.

"Twin," Castiel said, his throat dry and his voice almost a whisper, "please wake up. Please. W-we need you." He felt a hot tear slide down his face and drop onto his hand. _"I _need you."

She didn't respond, and Castiel felt his calm demeanor slip away and his body betrayed him as he choked out a sob. He carefully maneuvered himself around and crawled up to lay beside her, curling himself into her body and placing his hand on her chest. He felt as though they were very young again, when he would climb down from his bunk and into her bed and they would lay with one another talking about dreams or worries, their legs and arms entwined with one another's.

"Twin, Jo. Twin. Please, please…" he begged, burying his face into her shoulder and willing the slow heartbeat beneath his hand to strengthen, but it remained slow and barely present as ever, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I made you angry, Jo. Jo? Jo-Jo, Cassy sorry!" He shook, his childish words barely coherent over his soft sobs into her neck, "I just don't know how to be without you, Twin. Jo…

…I don't know what I'll do without you."


End file.
